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  <title>Features</title>
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  <h1 class="Head" dir="ltr">Features</h1>
  <p>On disk, an Eclipse based product is structured as a collection of <em>plug-ins</em>. Each plug-in contains the
  code that provides some of the product's functionality. The code and other files for a plug-in are installed on the
  local computer, and get activated automatically as required. A product's plug-ins are grouped together into features.
  A <em>feature</em> is a unit of separately downloadable and installable functionality.</p>
  <p>The fundamentally modular nature of the Eclipse platform makes it easy to install additional features and plug-ins
  into an Eclipse based product, and to update the product's existing features and plug-ins. You can do this using the
  Eclipse platform's install and update support found in the <b>Help</b> menu. Eclipse allows you to discover,
  download, and install features and plug-ins from special web-based Eclipse software sites.</p>
  <p>Large Eclipse based products can organize their features into trees starting from the root feature that represents
  the entire product. This root feature then includes smaller units of functionality all the way down to leaf features
  that list one or more plug-ins and fragments. The capability to group features hierarchically allows products to be
  stacked using a 'Russian doll' approach - a large product can build on top of a smaller one by including it and
  adding more features.</p>
  <p>Some included features may be useful add-ons, but are not vital to the proper functioning of the overall product.
  Feature providers can elect to mark them as <b>optional</b>. Optional features will only be installed if all their
  required features and plug-ins are available. If not installed right away, optional features can be added at a later
  date.</p>
  <p>The <b>About</b> option on the <b>Help</b> menu provides information about installed features and plug-ins. The
  <b>Check for Updates</b> and <b>Install New Software</b> commands on the <b>Help</b> menu provide the ability to
  update existing features, and to find, download, and install new features.</p>
  <h3 class="related">Related concepts</h3><a href="concepts-2.htm">Workbench</a>
  <h3 class="related">Related tasks</h3><a href="../tasks/tasks-132.htm">Installation Details for Features</a><br>
  <a href="../tasks/tasks-131.htm">Installation Details for Plug-ins</a><br>
  <a href="../tasks/tasks-120.htm">Updating the installation</a><br>
  <a href="../tasks/tasks-124.htm">Installing new software</a><br>
  <a href="../tasks/tasks-126.htm">Uninstalling software</a><br>
  <a href="../tasks/tasks-123.htm">Reverting to a previous install configuration</a>
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